Struggling Manchester healthcare firm axes board roles to cut costs

Widecells

WideCells Group, the healthcare services group focused on providing stem cell services and ground-breaking insurance for stem cell treatment, is restructuring its board.

It says it is part of a wider programme to minimise costs, refocus its strategy on the core operational divisions, and target revenue growth.

Last month it warned that it will be forced to introduce cost-cutting measures after suffering a torrid year.

Announcing its interim results, it said there was minimal revenues, which led to a loss of £2.03m.

Costs included more than £390,000 relating to aborted acquisitions and three attempts to raise capital.

There were also reorganisation costs of £130,000.

Underlying administration costs rose from £900,000 in the previous period to £1.51m.

Today, WideCells announced that chief financial officer David Bridgland has stepped down from his board position but will serve out his notice period until the end of the year; a non-board financial controller will be recruited.

Prof Peter Hollands has also stepped down from his board position but will remain as a director of WideCells Storage and Research division, as well as the group’s chief scientific officer.

Chairman Peter Presland will take on additional responsibilities until the group has stabilised, overseeing corporate matters, financial management and relationships with investors and advisors.

This will enable chief executive, João Andrade, to focus on sales and business development, prioritising revenue generation.

Mr Presland said: “I’d like to thank David for his work with the group and I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

“Prof Hollands will continue to be an invaluable asset to us as the group’s chief scientific officer, and I’d like to extend my special gratitude to him for his work on the board.”

He added: “Moving forward, I’ll be taking a more active role in the financial management of the group and additional corporate responsibilities to free up time for our CEO, João Andrade, to focus on what he is really good at – sales and business growth.”

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